David packed up as the sun rose and set off.

He made good progress in the lull where day was replaced with night. It was easy to divert away from the light cries as Pokemon welcomed or lamented the morning, and he moved smoothly without Pidgey in his arms.

Pidgey had finally relented and allowed herself to be recalled last night - only after a very amusing attempt to rest on top of his tent though. She ignored his pleas and launched herself up onto the orange fabric with a sweep of her wings that had his heart jolting in fear for her injury. However, as soon as she’d settled into a roosting position on the fabric she began to slide off. She hung in the air for a brief second of panic before plopping to the ground with a high pitch shrill.

He had of course burst out laughing at the sight. His laughter was cut off when Pidgey straightened from her tumble and fixed him with her gaze, but after letting him squirm for a minute she looked away and made her ‘send me home’ chirps. In hindsight, he should have been glad she didn’t slice the fabric to pieces on her way down.

The whole thing did leave him thinking about her gaze. It was too strong. The way he reacted to it wasn’t quite right either. He physically felt her eyes on him. It could be the start of a Move. Her pokeball rested lightly against his chest as he walked. She wouldn't be waking up any time soon, but it was something new to try at their next training session.

-.-

For something he'd built yesterday out of scraps the pokeball sling was surprisingly comfortable. The sensation of it bumping against his chest and pulling at his neck had faded away as he grew used to the weight. He barely noticed it anymore. But Pidgey hadn’t been in her ball during that time. So when the ball suddenly began to violently twitch and bounce up and down, David jumped.

“Christ.” He muttered, lifting one hand up to steady the pokeball and another to steady his heart.

It wasn't just the fact he'd forgotten about the sling. The morning had been peaceful, and he’d fallen into a zen state as he walked. All his attention had been on his surroundings and steps.

David quickly clicked the button on the pokeball and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, Pidgey had her wings spread wide. Her head was twisting back and forth searching the area as she hopped about. She wasn’t squawking or making noise, but her behavior reminded him of the other night after they'd escaped.

“Good morning, Pidgey.” David called softly. He walked slowly up to the jittery bird.

Pidgey let out a low squawk on seeing him and changed the path of her hops. Instead of hopping on the spot in a circle, now she hopped around him. He held still as the anxious Pokemon completed an inspection. Several circles later she stopped in front of him and folded her wings back. It was a pleasant surprise to see her right wing moving smoothly.

Pidgey pecked forward at him.

“Huh? What’s up?”

She pecked slightly to his right this time. Then the left. Not at him, but at their surroundings.

“Where have we gone? I left this morning. We need to go west, to Celadon.”

Pidgey narrowed her eyes and hopped a little to the side. She pecked forward twice this time at David. No, she pecked behind him. At his backpack.

“Oh. You’re just hungry,” He said and smiled ruefully. Looking around, the ground here was mucky and covered in stones. “Let’s find a nice spot to stop.”

He started walking again and Pidgey hopped along beside him.

-.-

David took slow bites out of the Aspear berry and counted their supplies. Beside him, Pidgey dug into one of her sachets. They’d stopped to eat by a large patch of flowers. The bluey-purple petals were a beautiful sight. They spread out between all the trees in a small meadow. It was a peaceful oasis of calm.

Pidgey didn’t pay the flowers any attention. When they arrived, she had scanned the clearing as normal before hopping forward again until she realized that David had stopped. Not one second was spent inspecting all the petals below. It made him wonder if she had a sense of aesthetics. Did Pokemon see art? Did they find some sights, colors or shapes more pleasing to look at? Unlike all the humans he’d met recently, Pidgey had no reaction to his hat and scarf. The only time she’d shown a personal preference was over food.

After this meal, they would have three sachets left. Three sachets and one Oran berry. It wasn’t enough. They would need to start slowing down and searching for berry bushes.

“Sprout.”

The call cut through the woods and both David and Pidgey turned to look at the new arrival to the small meadow.

A lurid yellow cylinder swayed out from behind a tree. No, it was a head, a cannon shaped head. It had eyes, two small beady dots, the only blemishes on the smooth yellow surface. The Pokemon swayed again and a narrow stalk-like body with two thick leaf limbs followed the head out from behind the tree.

The Bellsprout was twice the size of the smaller ones he had seen before, easily taller than Pidgey and up to his mid-thigh. It balanced on two of the larger roots extending from its body in an eerie take on how a human stood.

Pidgey hopped away from her sachet. She raised her wings, gave a low squawk back.

“Bel.” The Bellsprout swayed a little in place.

Pidgey chirped and hopped away from the flowers and towards the Bellsprout.

“Pidgey!” He hissed, hand going towards her pokeball. It would take a few seconds to shove everything back into his bag. They could run. There was no need to fight this Pokemon.

Pidgey ignored his cry and continued hopping towards the other Pokemon. The Bellsprout staggered away from the tree and out into an open area.

His hand left the pokeball, and he started to stuff everything back into his backpack, including Pidgey’s half-eaten sachet which he wrapped up as best he could. It was awkward to do when he couldn’t take his eyes off the Pokemon.

The two Pokemon stopped and faced off against each other. With a loud chirp and a “Rout!” they began.

The air around both Pokemon began to turn beige. A familiar haze grew around Pidgey while slithers of beige crawled along the floor towards Bellsprout. The haze grew thick and a few seconds later the slithers stopped.

Neither Pokemon moved.

The Bellsprout lowered itself towards the ground, resting on its stem. More slithers began to appear. The haze around Pidgey was unchanged.

“Crap,” David muttered as he realized what was happening.

Pidgey thought Tackle was a defensive move. She'd started the battle following the plan he had set out against Fred and Machop. She was going to wait for the Bellsprout to come to her. But the Bellsprout was using that Move from the leaflet, Growth. It was happy to take the time and grow stronger. Pidgey was losing ground with every second.

“Peck Pidgey!”

Pidgey moved. Flapping her wings she made large hops towards the Bellsprout. The haze surrounding her noticeably dimmed and David winced. They were going to have to practice holding and forming Tackle while moving.

The Bellsprout shifted but didn’t stand up or prepare to dodge as Pidgey approached. David frowned. Did Growth require it to stay still?

The final slithers of beige reached the Bellsprout as Pidgey did. Her last hop turned into a dive. She pounced on the prone Pokemon. The Bellsprout curled both of its leaves in front of itself, unable to dodge this late. The second Growth had not paid off.

David’s forming grin reversed as instead of spearing through the leaves with her beak, there was a pop. Pidgey awkwardly bounced off the other Pokemon and back onto the ground.

The Bellsprout also seemed surprised at the situation. It lowered its leaves an inch to peek before dropping them fully.

As Pidgey righted herself the cause was made clear. The hazy beige shimmer around her was gone. The weak Tackle she had formed struck before her Peck could. She threw herself off the Bellsprout.

Bellsprout recovered from its surprise before Pidgey could move. It struck, revealing the strength of its prone position. The two powerful roots it had walked on earlier rose up and lashed at Pidgey.

She shrieked as the roots struck the front of her left wing.

David’s arm shot to Pidgey’s pokeball, and he had it out of the sling and in front of him seconds later.

But he didn’t press the button.

Pidgey hadn’t darted away from the Bellsprout after the hit to recover. Instead, she hopped closer to its head. The Bellsprout began to curl its body to get away from the threat but not fast enough. Pidgey lunged forward with her beak, and it was the Bellsprout's turn to huff in pain.

“Tackle!” David shouted. From where he stood it was clear that the Bellsprout’s curl, initially to try to move its head away, had changed. Its roots were now curling around behind Pidgey’s back.

Pidgey lurched a bit as she halted mid-movement and mid-Move. Her head was already propped back for another Peck.

Light beige mist appeared just in time as the Bellsprout struck. The thick roots encircled Pidgey and as the Bellsprout pulled her closer, it began to tighten its grip.

Pidgey let out a light shrill, struggling against the inescapable grasp. The Tackle popped and was echoed by a gasp from the Bellsprout.

“Peck!” David all but screamed as the Bellsprout loosened its grip fractionally with the pop.

Pidgey dipped her head forward and struck the Bellsprout's stalk. It was a light blow with little force behind it, but the Bellsprout huffed again and went slack.

Pidgey flexed her wings to make space, pushing the roots away. Now free she hopped away from the Bellsprout.

For a moment David thought it was over, but the Bellsprout stirred again and slowly pushed itself up onto its roots.

“Peck.” He instructed once more. The wild Pokemon looked like it was on its last legs. One more good hit should make it unconscious.

But Pidgey didn’t move.

“Bells,” The wild Pokemon spoke in a hoarse voice. It turned and began to sway away, its movements more erratic than before.

Pidgey watched it for a second before hopping back over to David. She chirped loudly the entire way, only stopping where she reached where they had been sitting before. There she hopped around a few times before turning a sharp gaze on David.

‘Definitely a move,’ David thought, dropping the backpack. He searched for her half-eaten sachet with a chill down his spine.

-.-

David replayed the battle as they walked. The rationale behind it made sense with hindsight, but confused him in a new, different way. Afterall, why would wild Pokemon fight until they were unconscious or dead? That was a human’s, a trainer’s Pokemon’s game. There was no benefit in struggling to an end that left both easy prey or food for any other passing creature. Unless the fight was over being prey or food in the first place.

But why had the Bellsprout approached them like it had? Unlike the wild Pidgey they had fought before, there were no berries in the clearing. It might have been the Pokemon’s territory, and they had wandered in like he had with the Growlithe, but it just didn’t seem like that. The Bellsprout had walked up in front of them and announced itself. There was no aggressive posturing, not requests for them to leave.

Had it been a challenge of some kind? Pidgey had reacted near instantly to the call, but neither Pokemon had attacked the other until after they faced off against each other.

But why had this encounter been different to the sudden fights they had gotten into before?

A light shrill from Pidgey drew him out of his thoughts and he followed her beak off to the left of their path to see… a road?